Imitation of Death (Nikki Harper Mysteries, #2) by Cheryl Crane | Goodreads
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Nikki Harper Mysteries #2

Imitation of Death

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Cheryl Crane, daughter of movie icon Lana Turner, brings her Hollywood insider expertise to the second book in a star-studded mystery series featuring celebrity realtor-turned-sleuth Nikki Harper and her screen goddess mother, Victoria Bordeaux…
Nikki Harper is a superstar among Hollywood realtors. Among private investigators however, she’s strictly amateur, and her first case was a Waterworld-sized disaster. But when a body turns up in a dumpster behind Victoria Bordeaux’s mansion, Nikki feels duty-bound to get involved.

Before his demise, Eddie Bernard was the uber-privileged son of one of the biggest TV producers of all time, and a spoiled, violent, party-boy loser. The list of people glad to see him gone could stretch from one end of Bel Air to the other. In fact, about the only person Nikki’s sure is innocent is the prime suspect: Jorge Delgado, her childhood friend and the son of Victoria’s housekeeper. With the D.A. and the media throwing the words “death penalty” around, Nikki has to help.

Victoria, of course, can’t wait to delve into another Tinseltown scandal, and soon Nikki is submerged in a secret world of celebrity drug-dealing, dangerous cults, conniving stars, illegal aliens and, of all things, the Food Network. With the aid of a voyeuristic neighbor and some good old-fashioned bribery, Nikki starts to close in on the truth. But can she keep Jorge from facing the final curtain…while keeping herself out of a killer’s spotlight?

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 2012

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About the author

Cheryl Crane

8 books35 followers
Cheryl Crane is the daughter of movie star Lana Turner. She became infamous in 1958 after stabbing Turner's boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. It was ruled to be justifiable homicide as Crane had been protecting her mother. Crane is the author of the autobiography Detour: a Hollywood Tragedy - My Life With Lana Turner, My Mother and other books.

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5 stars
25 (19%)
4 stars
47 (36%)
3 stars
46 (35%)
2 stars
7 (5%)
1 star
4 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Profile Image for Ellie Oberth.
Author 16 books9 followers
September 14, 2020
Great book. I love all the nods and mentions of famous actors/actresses. Victoria is wonderful!
Profile Image for My Book Addiction and More MBA.
1,958 reviews66 followers
February 16, 2014
I was very interested in reading IMITATION OF DEATH by Cheryl Crane after I knew a little of the author’s background. Cheryl Crane is the daughter of Hollywood movie legend, Lana Turner. Interestingly, Crane herself committed murder in 1958 at the age of 14 when she fatally stabbed her mother’s abusive boyfriend. The stabbing was ruled to be justifiable homicide because she was protecting her mother at the time. Crane has written an autobiography, Detour: a Hollywood Tragedy – My Life With Lana Turner, My Mother and other books.

IMITATION OF DEATH is the second book in the Nikki Harper Mystery series. It can be read as a stand alone novel. IMITATION OF DEATH seems to be a story that is parallel to Crane’s personal life. Today, Crane works in real estate in California. Her heroine, Nikki Harper, also works in real estate and has a mother who is a Hollywood legend. Crane’s personal background in old Hollywood has apparently been a positive factor in creating Nikki and the other characters in this series. Her inside knowledge of celebrity life has enabled her to create a believable and exciting fictional mystery. I found myself fully engaged in this mystery involving celebrities and scandal. The plot is excellent and there’s a surprising twist in the end. I think all mystery lovers will enjoy IMITATION OF DEATH.

RATING: 4

Heat Rating: Mild

REVIEWED BY: Molly Waters

Courtesy of My Book Addiction and More
Profile Image for Melissa.
201 reviews8 followers
September 11, 2018
The second Nikki Harper mystery was a fun read, I liked the first book a bit more than this one. Victoria is a great character, I wonder how much Cheryl Crane made her like her mother.
Profile Image for Katie.
286 reviews
October 3, 2018
Nikki Harper #2, 2012. Read by Renee Raudman. Nikki Harper is a super Hollywood realtor, whose mother is Victoria, a famous retired movie star. Eddie Bernard, a spoiled child of a famous and well off Hollywood producer, is dead. Unfortunately, the pruning shears of Victoria's gardner, Jorge, was found in the heart of Eddie. Nikki is convinced Jorge did not do the murder. But, who did? Nikki has built a suspect list at the urging of her mother. Is she in danger?
Profile Image for Freyja Vanadis.
688 reviews6 followers
December 17, 2021
I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one in the series. Nikki has become much more aggressive with her investigations, not to mention annoying. However, I'll still read the third and final book in the series. Ms. Crane is a fine writer and even though her characters annoy me sometimes, the books are still a fun read.
Profile Image for Ellen Dark.
474 reviews5 followers
March 4, 2018
The author is the daughter of movie star Lana Turner, and the main character in the book is the daughter of a famous movie star. I enjoyed the book, the second in the series. I'm looking forward to the third in the series.
Profile Image for Sandy S.
7,082 reviews183 followers
September 28, 2012
IMITATION OF DEATH (Nikki Harper Mysteries #2) by Cheryl Crane

IMITATION OF DEATH is the second novel (August 2012 release) in Cheryl Crane’s Nikki Harper Mystery series. Cheryl Crane is the daughter of screen legend Lana Turner and brings much of her ‘inside Hollywood’ style into her storylines.

The Nikki Harper series focuses on the mother daughter duo of world famous screen actress Victoria Bordeaux and her amateur investigator daughter Nicolette ‘Nikki’ Harper. The pair can be found at the scene of some pretty infamous crimes. But when their neighbor’s troubled son, Eddie Bernard is found murdered, Nikki takes it upon herself to prove the Jorge Delgado, her childhood friend, is not the guilty party. The problem, the murder weapon is a pair of garden shears owned by Victoria’s gardener Jorge, and witnesses had seen them arguing the day before on the Bernard’s property. Jorge had threatened to kill Eddie Bernard.

Cheryl Crane weaves old time Hollywood magic with current day problems and contemporary icons. Drugs, illegal immigrants, actors in the closet and back stabbing wanna-bes are nothing new in Hollywood, but Cheryl adds references from today’s popular culture ala The Food Network, Dancing with the Stars, Housewives of Wherever Crap (I quote) and Entertainment Tonight blending the old with the new including product placement without the visuals. I can’t but help picturing Lana Turner as the elegant screen actress Victoria Bordeaux. And poor Nicolette is besieged with people asking about her mother at every turn-someone always wants an autograph.

We are introduced to the grieving neighbors including father Abe Bernard and his current and ex-wife Ginny and Melinda, as well as an assortment of extended family and assistants, all with a different story to tell. And Victoria’s side is not without some troubles of their own. But Eddie Bernard had led a drug and alcohol induced life of one trouble after another. He had just been released from, yet another, rehab when the unfortunate ‘accident’ had occurred. He was an embarrassment to his family, and someone was willing to stop him permanently. But when a Mexican gardener is accused of killing a wealthy white boy, the police had all but signed Jorge’s death warrant.

As the story develops, the finger pointing and accusations worsen especially when Eddie’s history reveals how deep he was into the drug scene. The further Nikki digs, the more she is certain that someone from Eddie’s life of drugs was responsible for his death. Illicit homosexual affairs, cocaine abuse and blackmail were all part of Eddie’s past, but it would be someone close to Eddie that was pushed one incident too far.

IMITATION OF DEATH reads like a who’s who of Hollywood. The characters are all fictitious but the storyline could very well have come from any number of true hidden family secrets amongst the rich and famous. At times the number of suspects on Nikki’s list was as large as a small village, but Eddie had made quite a number of enemies in his short life on earth. Cheryl Crane hides the identity of the murderer until the very end and then you look back and say…..”ah, I should have seen that coming”.

Copy supplied by Goodreads Firstreads

see all of my reviews at : thereadingcafe.com
155 reviews5 followers
September 22, 2012
“Nikki and Victoria Sleuth Again…”

It started out as another boring Friday night on glitzy and glamorous Roxbury Drive with Hollywood realtor; Nikki Harper, spending it “Jeremy-less” at her Mother’s (Retired silver screen star; Victoria Bordeaux ) elegant home due to her own apt. being painted. When loud music, signaling another wild Eddie Bernard party next door, was punctuated by a loud gunshot, Nikki, Victoria, and actor/friend Marshall rush to the Bernard property to find a heated argument between Victoria’s gardener ( who also happens to be Victoria’s Housekeeper Ina’s son) and spoiled, and supposedly rehabilitated
from drug addiction; Eddie Bernard. Eddie has some sort of pistol which was the norm for one of his gatherings, and this time the dispute was over disrespecting Jorge’s Cousin, Ree with Jorge’s Brother-in-Law; Hector, trying to separate the parties and cool the situation. Nikki and Eddie’s Mother; Melinda helped to break up the fracas, but not before threats were spoken. Nikki strongly suggested that Jorge and Hector pack up their tools and quit for the day, which they did. Little did anyone know the horror that would greet them the following morning. They were awakened by Ina’s screams and Eddie’s dead body posed atop Victoria’s garbage cans with Jorge’s pruning shears plunged into his chest. Was Jorge that angry that he would kill Eddie over a disagreement concerning a family member? Or had Hector done the dastardly deed for him? When Jorge is put in jail under suspicion of murder, Nikki, ( with Victoria’s two cents and lots of common sense), takes on the task of finding Eddie’s killer and clearing her childhood friend; Jorge’s name—with warnings and misgivings from hunky and suave Detective Dombrowski. There were many unsavory characters at Eddie’s party. Could he have owed someone money for drugs? Evil-looking and acting Kaiser could be on that list, along with tall and muscular pool boy; Rocko who had access to both adjoining properties. There was no love-loss in Eddie’s family as well. Step-mother; Ginny had, herself, threatened to kill him if he didn’t get his act together and his Step-Sister; Lissa had nothing good to say after Eddie’s passes and attempted shenanigans plus his own biological Mother; Melinda, divorced from Eddie’s TV producer/Father; Abe, still resides on the property, in the guest house—much to Ginny’s dismay and continually stuck her nose in things where it didn’t belong. Last but not least, on Nikki’s list of suspects is dark and spooky Wezley (with a Z) Butterfield, who may have a large ax to grind with Eddie over his Father’s lifelong ambition and vision; “The Church of Earth and Beyond”. Ms.Crane has done it again! I thoroughly enjoyed her first title; “The Bad Always Die Twice” (Check it out!!) and have looked forward to this new Nikki Harper murder mystery as well. I was not a bit disappointed. The author keeps you guessing until almost the very end. And I will admit that “E” has captured my heart & I hope to read more about him in the future. Cozy lovers, add this to you TBR list!! And to Ms. Crane (Daughter of Silver Screen Actress; Lana Turner) I say, “Thank ya..Thank ya very much…Uh huh, Uh huh!” Nancy Narma
Profile Image for Clay Stafford.
Author 10 books44 followers
Read
June 29, 2015
What could be finer on a cold winter day than a cozy from sunny California?

“Imitation of Death” by Cheryl Crane is the second mystery featuring Nicolette “Nikki” Harper, a Hollywood celebrity realtor who is also the daughter of fictional Hollywood star Victoria Bordeaux (just as author Cheryl Crane is the actual daughter of film legend Lana Turner).

The present-day murder mystery begins with a pair of pruning sheers. Nikki is not a detective by trade, but she can’t help but get involved to defend the gardener she knows in her heart is innocent. Using her influence as the child of a famous Hollywood actress to gain access to her mother’s rolodex, the investigative techniques of the mother / daughter partnership falls somewhere between “Murder She Wrote” and Nancy Drew. I appreciated the purposeful plotting and excellent end revelation, along with the long list of certainly flawed suspects on all echelons of Hollywood social strata.

Just by growing up in that bubble, children of celebrities know many skeletons in the Hollywood closet and Cheryl Crane fictionalizes them delightfully here. A most-enjoyable couple of hours of amateur sleuthing through Beverly Hills.

From the publisher:

“Cheryl Crane, daughter of movie icon Lana Turner, brings her Hollywood insider expertise to the second book in a star-studded mystery series featuring celebrity realtor-turned-sleuth Nikki Harper and her screen goddess mother, Victoria Bordeaux…Nikki Harper is a superstar among Hollywood realtors. Among private investigators however, she’s strictly amateur, and her first case was a Waterworld-sized disaster. But when a body turns up in a dumpster behind Victoria Bordeaux’s mansion, Nikki feels duty-bound to get involved. Before his demise, Eddie Bernard was the uber-privileged son of one of the biggest TV producers of all time, and a spoiled, violent, party-boy loser. The list of people glad to see him gone could stretch from one end of Bel Air to the other. In fact, about the only person Nikki’s sure is innocent is the prime suspect: Jorge Delgado, her childhood friend and the son of Victoria’s housekeeper. With the D.A. and the media throwing the words “death penalty” around, Nikki has to help. Victoria, of course, can’t wait to delve into another Tinseltown scandal, and soon Nikki is submerged in a secret world of celebrity drug-dealing, dangerous cults, conniving stars, illegal aliens and, of all things, the Food Network. With the aid of a voyeuristic neighbour and some good old-fashioned bribery, Nikki starts to close in on the truth. But can she keep Jorge from facing the final curtain…while keeping herself out of a killer’s spotlight?���

Imitation of Death on Killer Nashville
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Profile Image for Amy Lignor.
Author 10 books224 followers
August 29, 2012

Nicolette (“Nikki“) Harper is the daughter of Victoria Bordeaux - a famous movie star back in her day - and the two have a great relationship. In fact, when our story begins, Nikki is living with her mom while her own house is being re-painted, and even though Nikki doesn’t live the ‘high life,’ she does like to try it once in a while.

Lounging by the pool one afternoon, Nikki, her mom and a friend are enjoying their luxurious day when all of a sudden the house next door becomes more than a bit annoying, with loud music and even louder voices. Heading over to see if they can quiet their neighbors down, they walk directly into a fight between their gardener, Jorge, and Eddie Bernard - the spoiled rich man who lives next door. Even though the argument ends, the next morning arrives and Eddie turns up dead in the alley behind Victoria’s mansion; sticking out of the rich man’s chest is a pair of pruning shears belonging to Jorge.

Knowing Jorge as well as she does, Nikki decides to do a little investigating on her own, seeing as that there is no way she believes Jorge committed the murder. As things begin to unfold, Nikki uncovers information about the loud party that was going on far into the night and finds out - not surprisingly - that Eddie had many enemies among his guests. So did the gardener actually kill, or did someone else prune their host? This is a plot that is seriously fun!

Watching Nikki utilize her mother’s ‘fame and name’ in order to meet the many suspects who are not disappointed that Eddie has met his maker, is hilarious. Of course, the author should know all about the ins-and-outs of fame considering Ms. Crane is the real life daughter of the stunning, Lana Turner; and you can truly see the lovely Lana in the form of Victoria Bordeaux who’s entertaining beyond belief when she voices her opinions and makes sure everybody listens. Thus far the Nikki Harper books have been incredibly well-written and most definitely memorable. Therefore…enjoy!

Until Next Time, Everybody,
Amy
79 reviews1 follower
October 2, 2013
This is the first book from Cheryl Crane that I have read. This book was a nice read for a rainy day. I like the characters, Nikki and her Mom Victoria are the perfect Hollywood Mother and Daughter team. The story was fun, the characters were interesting. I did not figure out who did it until the very end. Though the murderer was one of the three people I thought might have done it. Over all a fun read, I will get the next book in the series to read soon.
5,831 reviews60 followers
October 2, 2012
Nikki Harper, real estate agent to the stars, springs into action when her mother's gardener, a man she grew up with, is accused of murdering a rich, spoiled playboy. Nikki's mother, screen legend Victoria Bordeaux, gives advice and helps as Nikki investigates a cultlike church, an upscale nightclub, and other locales trying to find the murderer who framed her friend.
351 reviews
January 24, 2014
I continue to be totally entertained by Cheryl Crane's Nikki Harper. As the daughter of a Hollywood star. her protagonist brings up the world in which she grew up. This time the mystery was who killed her next door neighbor and blamed the gardener. It was a well plotted journey to the end and I look forward to reading her next book.
Profile Image for Caryn.
274 reviews22 followers
July 9, 2016
A light and entertaining beach chair read. The author doesn't stray far from her roots creating screen siren and movie mogul characters ... You can see the inspiration of Lana, Elizabeth, Rita, Jennifer, etc....The plot line is simple but clever. The setting and supporting cast is effectively designed. Kudos to the author. And I am looking forward to the other books in the series.
2,959 reviews29 followers
March 12, 2013
This is the second Nikki Harper Mystery. The main character, Nikki Harper, is a real estate agent in Los Angeles. However the main area that the novel takes place in is the house of her mother, movie star,Victoria Bordeaux. Little violence just sifting through clues.
199 reviews
October 14, 2014
A fun, lighthearted mystery, the second book in Cheryl Crane's Nikki Harper series. Very enjoyable and engaging.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews

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